I understand many small business owners experience times when their business just isn't going their way. And before they know it they have one last chance to turn their business around or they will have to pack it all in and say goodbye to a dream that once was true. Often times their business falls flat because they neglect their business for too long and is perceived as beyond repair.

However here are 5 tips you can take away and use to turn you business around and get it back on its feet again.

• 1. Rewrite you business, marketing and sales and processes plans.

This one step alone can save you from failure because often times the problem is when the environment in which the business operates has changed and all it requires is a couple of internal business processes to change and you will find things start running a lot more smoother again. You see it is always easy to have a clear picture of what you want in your mind. However you need to communicate this to your employees so that they know what you want and best way to do this is to write everything down, that way it will help your employees to achieve their goals and will help you to focus on what needs to be done next by letting you see into the future.

Additionally you may not realise it but once you get all your ideas on paper you will see where you are or were going off track so that you can take the corrective action to make sure you don't go off track again.

• 2. Have a group meeting with your team

You may have people out side or your business that you hold contracts with. This often happens in the online business where people are communicating from all over the globe. This is where you may need to have a meeting with the entire team and let them know you plan to really hit the ground running in the next 3 months. Distance may be a problem however you can always organise a conference call on Skype or on the land lines and then arrange to have another one in a week's time to review progress.

Have a plan before you hold the call so that you know which issues you want to address and try to include everyone in on all the issues so that everybody feels it has been worth their time attending the call. Also when holding a call of this nature it's important to be self-assured, open minded and flexible with any ideas your team has. Keep in mind that your team will begin to loose confidence in you if you tell them you business is falling apart.

• 3. Contact the tax department and tell them you are going through a rough time.

Some times it is hard to keep on top of your taxes when times are rough so please don't just cut them off. Instead tell them your situation but assure them you are going to straighten up things again and you need their support and cooperation. Often times they are more then willing to help because it is in their best interest to help. The more business you create the more tax money they get. So remember they are more likely to work with you in this difficult situation if you are open with them. Please remember if you try to avoid them then they may suspect you are committing tax fraud and will escalate the situation making it twice as hard for you to get your business back on track.

• 4. Contact you bank.

Tell you bank you are having trouble.

If you have any loans with them arrange a meeting with the manager and tell them you are going through a rough time. They maybe able to help you and at the same time assure them you will be back on your feet in no time.

• 5. Plan 3 months of crunch time.

Plan out the next three months of your life in a step by step process and aim to go on a holiday when the 3 months is up. This way you will have something to look forward to and the best thing of all is if you do and plan everything correctly you will be able to holiday stress free again knowing you have got your business back on track and have gained the experience in knowing you can do it again, if ever the time comes again.

However please don't let it happen again.

A good way to make sure it never happens again is to get into a habit of continuous learning. The best way to keep up to date with what's going on is to choose a blog and follow it.

A good blog to follow is http://www.interworkmarketing.com/blog

Best Wishes,

Tom Miller